Love Incorruptible? (Ephesians 6:24)

23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

God grabs hold of my heart with the last line of Ephesians today. Paul closes the letter to the church at Ephesus with a blessing of grace to all who love the Lord Jesus with an incorruptible (NNIV says “undying”) love. With those words, God reminds me of my call to repent and grow.

Do I love God? Of course I do. Do I love God with a love that feels incorruptible or undying? I can’t’ say that I demonstrate that as I should. My love is weak, fickle, frail. My hatred of evil is not as hot as it ought to be. My passion for right is not as strong as it should be. My commitment to knowing God through is word is not as all-encompassing as it should be. My evangelism is not as frequent and focused as it should be. My love for my family is not as disciplined as it should be.

On and on I could go, but the point to me is clear. My weakness is a matter of the heart. I know, were I to present this to friends, they would tell me that nobody is perfect and nobody’s love for God is what it will one day be. I know that God has blessed me and saved me and made my love for him true. Yet, when I examine my life, I feel like many of the honest authors I have read who, though they appear strong, they decry the weakness of their own hearts.

When I see the blessing of Ephesians 6:24, I realize that it is only by God’s grace that I will do anything right, including loving him. How thankful I am that he will keep me by his power and for his glory. How thankful I am that he promised in chapter 2 that he has seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus in order to display forever the riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ. How much I realize I need him and how grateful I am that he never leaves or forsakes his own.

Lord God, this morning I am reminded of the weakness of my own heart and my own love. I cannot be what I should be on my own. I am frail. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the keeping power of your grace. Help me, I pray, to love you better. Help my heart to love you, as your word says, with an incorruptible and undying love. Enliven my heart so that I might honor you and have the joy of your presence.